Homelessness help from Barking and Dagenham Council

If you are homeless tonight, or worried you are about to lose your home, contact Barking and Dagenham Council straight away — it cannot turn you away without looking at your case. You do not have to wait until you are on the street: for anyone eligible, the council's duties begin once you are likely to become homeless within 56 days.^[26]

By phone or email. Call the council's homelessness prevention and housing advice team on 020 8724 8323 on weekdays, or email housingadviceservice@lbbd.gov.uk. The council's pages give the line's hours as 9am to 4pm in one place and 9am to 5pm in another.^[18] The team sees people only by appointment, so phone or email first.^[18] If you have nowhere safe to stay tonight, phone rather than waiting for an email reply.

Out of hours. At any other time, including evenings and weekends, the council's homelessness page says to call 020 8215 3000.^[18] If you or someone else is in danger, call 999.

Check your options online. The council's Housing Options Finder tool asks about your situation and sets out what may be open to you. It does not replace speaking to the team if you are homeless now.^[18]

Sleeping rough. If you are worried about someone sleeping rough, the council asks you to contact StreetLink, which will look for them and try to connect them to support. If the person is under 18, call the police on 101 instead.^[22]

Free housing advice from Shelter or Citizens Advice is available at any point. The council points to Barking and Dagenham Citizens Advice for advice on your rights.^[18]

Barking and Dagenham's duties come from Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996 and are the same across England — the general homelessness guide explains each one in detail. In short:

• If you are eligible and likely to become homeless within 56 days, the council owes you the prevention duty — reasonable steps to help you keep your home or find another before you lose it.^[26]
• If you are already homeless and eligible, it owes you the relief duty — reasonable steps to help you secure accommodation.^[26]
• In both cases it must assess your circumstances and record the steps you and the council will each take in a personalised housing plan.^[26]
• If you are eligible, in priority need and did not become homeless intentionally, the main housing duty can follow once the relief duty ends. The council must then secure accommodation for your household until the duty ends in one of the ways the law allows.^[26]

If a private landlord is trying to evict you, the council says it can negotiate with them to see whether you can stay.^[21] Because social housing is so scarce, it says the home it finds you is likely to be a private tenancy.^[23]

Without a local connection to Barking and Dagenham, your case may be referred to a council where you have one — never to a district where you would run the risk of violence, including domestic abuse.^[26] Immigration and residence status can affect what help you are eligible for — the general homelessness guide sets out who is eligible.^[26]

If Barking and Dagenham has reason to believe you may be homeless, eligible and in priority need, it must secure interim accommodation for you while it looks into your case. The duty arises before any decision on your application.^[26]

Whatever is provided must be suitable for your whole household. For households with dependent children or a pregnant member, bed and breakfast can be used only where nothing else is available — and then for no more than 6 weeks in total.^[26]

What the council provides. The council says that while it looks into your case, you are likely to be placed in one of its hostels in the borough. You would have your own room and share a kitchen and bathroom.^[23] If it decides it owes you a duty and cannot find a home quickly, it may use self-contained private accommodation. That may be in a neighbouring borough or further afield in Essex.^[23]

The local picture. The council's Housing Strategy 2026-2031 says that, as of mid-2025, more than 1,000 households were in temporary accommodation, including families placed in bed and breakfast hotels. It sets a long-term aim to end the use of bed and breakfast for homeless families.^[24]

Rent. You pay rent for temporary accommodation, and on a low income you may be able to claim Housing Benefit or Universal Credit towards it — the FAQs explain more.^[23]

If you think accommodation offered under a duty is unsuitable, you can normally ask for a review. Emergency accommodation provided while the council investigates is challenged differently.^[26]

Section 202 of the Housing Act 1996 gives you the right to have most important homelessness decisions looked at again.^[26] That covers decisions on:

• your eligibility, or whether you count as homeless
• priority need, or a finding of intentional homelessness
• the council bringing a duty to an end
• whether accommodation offered to you is suitable.^[26]

You have 21 days from the date you are told the decision, unless the council agrees in writing to give you longer. A review that goes against you — or one you do not hear back about in time — can then be taken to the county court on a point of law under section 204, again within 21 days.^[26]

Asking Barking and Dagenham for a review. Ask in writing within the 21 days, even if you are still gathering your reasons, and keep a dated copy. Your decision letter should say where to send it.^[26]

Homelessness cases fall within civil legal aid, so a legal aid solicitor can advise on and run a review or appeal at no cost if you qualify. Check through the government's Find a Legal Aid Adviser tool.^[41] The council also points to Barking and Dagenham Citizens Advice for free advice.^[18]

A complaint about how your case was handled, rather than what was decided, goes through the council's complaints process first, then the Local Government and Social Care Ombudsman. That route cannot replace a section 202 review or a section 204 appeal, which have their own strict deadlines.^[38]